Method of loading and unloading



March 13, 1945. J. J. BYLO METHOD OF LOADING AND UNLOADING CARGO Filed Sept. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I l I E John J. B510 attorney HH 'II March 13, 194 5. J. J. BYLO 2,371,149

METHOD OF LOADING AND UNLOADING CARGO Filed Sept. 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIII wherein:

Patented Mar. 13, 1945 uNiTtE u STATES PATENT OFFICE tomes or noal iigzmn UNLoanmc. v p

Johm Bylo, Detroit, Mich.

Application September 23, 1942., SeriallNn; 459,392.

' 8? Claims; (01.214-42) This invention relates. to methods of loading and unloading cargo vessels.

Considerable. time is consumed in delivering cargo to discharging it.- firom. vessels, this being especiallytrue of cargos other than-bulk material. as vehicles, machinery. or. general package freight. It quite commonly requires. at least. a. month to unload and load large general cargoes, as for example. 2,000 tons. Since both a vessel and the majority oi its crew are idle during; loading; or unloading of cargo it is obviously highly desirable to. minimize time thus.

'cargovessels. H

In. case the transit periods of vessels exceed their presentloading. and. unloading periods, it

is obvious that more time will be had tor loading and unloadingif this can be done during transit periods, Furthermore; present practice is to carry freight from, the. receiving. shed. to the dock,- from which it is eventually delivered into the vessel and. properly distributed. My demountable cargo receiver" permits delivering cargo directly thereto from the ireightshed or vice versa.

A further. obiectis to adapt a demountable cargo receiver to occupy a bridgingarelation to two docksspaced to form a slip receiving. a vessel on or from. which the receiver is to. be. loaded or unloaded, such relation permitting variations. in the buoyancy of the vessel to be used in transferring the load. and thus eliminating necessity for clnnhersome and-expensive. machinery.

A further object is to. providerfior securely anchoring a demountalble cargo. receiver to; the deck of. a vessel, so'that it may withstand rough weather.

These andyarious. otherobiects are attained by the construction: hereinafter. described and illustrated. in

I. is atop plan view of a vessel equipped; with. a demourrtable cargo hold in accordance. with the invention.

Fig. 21s a side elevationalview of such vessel.

the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of said vessel occupying a slip and ready to transfer. the cargo hold tov docks at. each side oi. the slip.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. and showing how the cargo hold is; anchoredto-thevessel.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but disclosing s modified type 0t dock installation.

In. these views, the reierence' character I; designaties a. vessel having a cargo deck. 2 extending the full width of the. vessel and for at. least a major portion of its length, said: deck inthe illustrated construction extending from the forc castle 3 to. the stern. Removably seated on the deck 2 is a. cargo hold. L forming a. complete and weather-tight enclosure, and preferably having a width and length exceeding that of the deck; so as to projectv laterally andrearwardly some distancebeyond the vessel. Suitable doorsv 5.provide for the delivery of cargo to and from the hold; and said doors may be provided in either or both sides. of. the. hold and alsov in. the stern thereof, it desired. A plurality of trusses 6., or other reinforcing structures extend transversely through the bottom portion of the hold and are so connected to lengthwise trusses or beams. l as to form, a, frame work adequate to support the entire hold together with its maximum, intended load. Said trussesextend at their ends beyond the cargo hold to reinforce laterally projecting supports. Ia for said hold, disposed betweenv thedoorways. thereof. Relatively thin platiorms lb extend across the doorways interconnecting the.

supports 1a. and serving as gang planks. Each truss? 6- has one or more downwardly projecting I anchorage members 8, underlying the hold and gradually reduced in size toward their lower ends, the deck. 2: being. formed with openings 8a accommodating. said anchorage members. In corporated in or secured to the beams or trusses 9' which carry the deck 2v are sockets lllcorresponding in shape. to and receiving the. members 8..

Each anchorage member is adapted to be. locked its socket to by one. or more bolts. H slidablefore. and. aftof the vessel and it is preferredv to: adapt all of' said bolts for actuation in unison to or from their locking. positions. This may be done electrically, hydraulically, or. pneumatically, there being shown in Fig. 4' solenoids 12. for electrically controlling two of said bolts. Obviously, all of the solenoids may be instantaneously energized by merely closing a switch, not shown. Water ballast. tanksv t3 are: fixed at suitable points in the vessel hull to provide. for a material raising or lowering of the vessel bydischarging water from or admitting it to said tanks. No attempt is made to illustrate pumps and piping incident to a water ballasting system since these are well known.

For purpose of unloading the hold 4, the vessel l enters a slip formed between two docks M (Fig. 3) and having a width exceeding only slightly that of the cargo hold so that the supports Ia overhang said docks. Surface level of the docks is predeterminedly such that said supports will have a reasonable upward clearance from the docks as a vessel laden with a maxi mum tonnage enters the slip. After operating,

dock installation, as compared to construction first described, but obtains time-saving advantages of the demountable hold without necessitating laterally projecting supports on the hold.

' be merely a demountable platform. For example,

the bolts II to release the cargo hold from the deck, water ballast is now taken into the tanks l3 until resultant submerging of the vessel seats the supports la on the two .docks, thus transferring the cargo hold as a load from the vessel to the docks. the-anchorage members have suitable upward clearance from" the deck 2 and the vessel may then leave the slip. Removaloficargo from the hold 4 may proceed as soon as the latter has been deposited as described upon the docks, and such removal may continue during the ensuing trip of the vessel or perhaps during several short trips.

In taking on a cargo hold, either at the unloadenter a slip other than that used for unloading but duplicating the latter. The cargo hold to be taken on will occupy a bridging relation to the slip now entered and no regulation of ballast v will ordinarily be necessary since the proper deck level was established prior to leaving the slip wherein the vessel was unloaded. When the deck has been located in proper vertical registration with the loaded cargo hold, sufficient ballast is discharged to lift the vessel so that the cargo hold will be transferred as a load to the deck 2 and the supports la will have adequate clearance above the docks. The vessel may now proceed to its point of cargo delivery, after the bolts l l have been locked with the anchorage members 8.

The modification of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 conforms to precedin description as regards vessel I, deck 2, cargo hold l', beams 1, anchorage members 8', trusses 9', sockets I, tanks l3 and docks l4. There are eliminated however the laterally projecting supports la of the first-described construction and supports for the cargo hold, when docked, ,are formed by plungers I oppositely mounted on the two docks.

Submergence is continued until:

. ing point or some other terminus, the vessel will A suitable provision is made for reciprocating 5.;

said plungers, the illustrated provision comprising pistons I 6 connected to said plungers and operating in cylinders ll anchored strongly to the docks as indicated at l8. In one limiting position of said plungers, they project over the slip, as shown in Fig. 5, to engage in sockets I9 formed in the ends of the trusses 6', said trusses in this modification lying fully within the cargo hold. Thus the plungers l5 are adapted to support said hold in a bridging relation to the slip, being pro jected into the sockets l9 preliminary to trans ferring the cargo hold as a load from they vessel to the docks and being withdrawn from said. sockets preliminaryto a reverse transfer of the cargo hold. Obviously, admission and escape of fluid to and from the several cylinders I! may be controlled by a valve or valves common to all the cylinders so that the plungers may be projected or retracted in unison. This modification adds considerable to complexity and cost of the my improved system has an important application to car ferries, the loading platform in such case being equipped with suitable tracks as in present practice, and the provision for quick transfer of such platform from ferry to docks or vice versa being effected by either of the provisions which have been described and illustrated. In present practice, car ferries must lieidle in their slips for long priods, while their tracks are being filled. 9 V

"It is a highly' important feature of my system that the demountable hold or platform requires no shifting other than its transfer by gradual vertical motion'froni a vessel to the docks or vice versa. Said hold or platform when built for use on large cargo vessels will, at least in many instances, be of great dimensions and considerably elongated and it would not be feasible to so reinforce such a large structure as to permit shifting it laterally either during or subsequent to is handled by a single receiver. A plurality .of demountable receivers is desirable only in case pare tial cargos must be picked up or delivered at different' ports or docks. I

By progressively reducing the size of the anchorage members 8 or 8 and of their sockets H1 or ID as these members extend downwardly.

entrance of the anchorage members into said sockets is facilitated, and any slight inaccuracy of registration in the receiver and deck as they approach each otheris automatically corrected. The term deck, as used in foregoing descrip-' tion and following claims, is inclusive of a pier or pilaster, since one of ,the two docks required by the invention need serve no other purpose than that of apartial support for the cargo receiver. What I claim is: 1. The method of loading or unloading a vess'el equipped with a demountable cargo receiver, consisting in varying the buoyancy of the vessel to raise or lower the level of the vessel withrelation to an adjacent dock, and utilizing such var-. iation of deck level to lift the receiver from the dock and deposit it on the vessel or lift it from the vessel and deposit it on the dock.. 2'. The method of loading or unloading a vessel equipped with a demountable cargo receiver, consisting in disposing the vessel between two docks,

varying the buoyancy of the vessel to raiseor vessel, consisting in disposing the receiver in a bridging relation to two docks spaced to form a slip proportioned to accommodate the vessel, disposing the vessel within said slip with a deck underlying said receiver, and increasing the buoyancy of the vessel to raise said deck and thus load the receiver thereon 4. The method of unloading a cargo receiver from a vessel, consisting in entering the vessel in a slip formed between two docks, and lowering the receiver to seat it jointly on said docks by reducing buoyancy of the vessel.

5. The method of unloading a vessel equipped with a demountable receiver having laterally proiecting supports, consisting in entering the vessel in a slip formed between two docks, with a deck of the vessel underlying said receiver and with said supports overhanging the docks, and decreasing the buoyancy ot the vessel to first seat the receiver supports on the docks and then establish vertical clearance between the vessel and receiver.

6. The method of employing demountable cargo receivers to facilitate the unloading and loading of a vessel, consisting in disposing a vessel equipped with a demountable receiver in a slip formed between two docks, decreasing the buoyancy of the vessel to deposit said receiver jointly on said docks, then entering the vessel in another and similar slip, formed between docks whereon a cargo receiver has previously been deposited, a deck of the vessel being disposed in an underlying relation to the last-mentioned receiver, and increasing the buoyancy of said vessel to transfer the last-mentioned receiver from the docks to said deck.

7. In a method of unloading a vessel equipped with a demountable cargo receiver, the steps of entering the vessel in a slip formed between two doclrs, actuating supports installed on said docks toward the receiver to assume positions for supporting the receiver, and seating the receiver on said sup-ports by reducingbuoyancy of the vessel.

8. The method set forth in claim '7, said supports being actuated in uniso JOHN J. BYLO. 

